The northern B.C. community of Fort St. James, population 5,000, seems to be in perpetual mourning given the number of tragic deaths that occur here.
Hunger among students is discernible on Monday mornings when some report they haven’t eaten in days.
“We’ve had a death a week here since December 2020,” said Fort St. James secondary vice-principal Shelley Leatherdale in early December. “From alcohol abuse, drug abuse, COVID, accidents … a funeral last week was for a 20-year-old, the week before was for someone close to 30. The one happening on Monday is for an elder.
“We might make it 10 days before we have another death but it has averaged a death a week … all of our families are grieving.”
And this combined with the poverty afflicting some families is having an effect on students attending the high school.
“We lost a 13-year-old (girl) in January.”
What happened?
“Alcohol poisoning.”
With the anniversary of the Grade 8 student’s death coming up, the Indigenous education department is organizing a grief and loss workshop called Embers of Hope for students …
“Our kids are carrying a lot,” said Leatherdale.
Hunger among students is discernible on Monday mornings when some report they haven’t eaten in days.
“They will take one or two or sometimes three servings of breakfast and go to our wellness room and have something else to eat,” said Leatherdale. “They’ll make omelettes or eggs on toast or bagel sandwiches or a multitude of other things on top of whatever was served for breakfast or lunch.
“So a lot of the conversations we have here (among staff) is on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.”
This is a theory of psychology that propounds the most essential things a person needs to survive are shelter, water, food, warmth, rest and health.
The wellness room is there to provide those conditions for some of the school’s 267 students who need it.
Some students come to school not having slept for days, Leatherdale said, and will sleep through the whole day in the room.
The wellness room is where clothes can be found although they’re now down to just a few items and replenishing is necessary.
“It’s 20 below and we have lots of students who have arrived wearing just hoodies and running shoes. We are short on winter jackets, gloves, those sorts of things. Even the ones we bought last year — the kids grow out of them — and they require new ones,” she said.
There are a couple of stores in town including a thrift store, but sometimes a staff member will take students to Prince George — a 90-minute drive — to get what they need.
“Our students are quite happy to go to a thrift store and get 10 shirts and 10 pairs of pants and a jacket as opposed to spending $120 on one item,” she said. “We are really teaching them how to do things on a budget, how they can be thrifty to make their money go further.”
With the help of an AAS grant last year the wellness room was stocked with food and clothing that “increased self-esteem, (lowered) stigma, reduced stress, improved behaviour and increased academic performance,” said at-risk youth worker Jhenipher Bridgeman.
The school now needs $20,000 from AAS to continue to help students and families in need of food, clothing and other necessities.
“Basic essentials are things our students need to survive, stay healthy and live with dignity. Without them life becomes extremely difficult,” said Bridgeman. “We have had many tragedies over the past six years, grief, loss and trauma are very real here every day … our students often face systemic barriers that make it difficult to break the cycle of poverty such as underfunded schools, limited job prospects and inadequate housing.
“These can lead to poor health outcomes, lower educational achievements and increased vulnerability to crime or exploitation.”
Fort St. James secondary is just one of 164 schools that have applied to AAS for help — requests now total $1.5 million. The money is urgently needed to protect the welfare of thousands of students whose families are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund administers AAS. No administrative fees are removed from donations. Donations in their entirety will be directed to schools.
How to donate
1. ONLINE: Donate with a credit card at vansunkidsfund.ca
2. PHONE: To pay by credit card call 604-813-8673.
By Gerry Bellett (gbellett@gmail.com)
